Thor’s Coney Island: Shore Hotel Lot No Longer Vacant

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Thor’s Coney Island: Shore Hotel Lot No Longer Vacant

May 10, 2012 by Tricia

Thor Equities’ Shore Hotel lot and adjoining Henderson Walk in Coney Island will be activated this summer with rides, concessions and other attractions, according to BK Festival promoter Will McCarthy. The first tenant pulled onto the empty lot on Monday. Steve Bitetzakis’ Grill House trailer was relocated from the BK Festival lot on Stillwell Avenue. The Grill House is now parked on the Surf Avenue side of the Shore Hotel lot at 1228 Surf, which goes through to Coney Island’s Bowery. The rides and other amusements are expected to open on Memorial Day Weekend.

As previously reported, Thor Equities’ Stillwell Avenue lots were leased to the BK Festival promoters for last year’s flea market and this year’s new Steeplechase Park. Thor’s Surf Avenue lots, including the former Shore Hotel site and the Bank of Coney Island lot at Surf and 12th, will also be part of the Coney Island amusement park slated to open Memorial Day Weekend.

Paving Paradise By the Sea: Shore Hotel Lot and Henderson Walk , Coney Island. March 23, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

The Shore Hotel property has been vacant since Thor Equities demolished the circa 1903 hotel in December of 2010. The lot and the Walk were paved in March as seen in the above photo. Just to be clear–we’re talking about the Shore Hotel –here’s our flickr set “Coney Island’s Shore Hotel (Demolished)”— and not the landmarked Shore Theater, which is frequently misidentified as a hotel!

Henderson Walk, one of Coney Island’s historic walks, has been fenced off since the demolition of the Henderson Music Hall. The century-old Henderson Building and Shore Hotel were on opposite sides of the Walk. Thor Equities’ new building on the Henderson site remains vacant and encased in plywood.

On Easter Sunday, Steve Bitetzakis debuted his new Grill House trailer at the BK Festival on Stillwell Avenue next to Scream Zone. Located on the Coney Island Boardwalk since 1993, Bitetzakis was one of the “Coney Island 8″ evicted by Zamperla. In February he called off plans to have his modular building moved down Stillwell and instead sold it to Zamperla and purchased a concession trailer.